State agencies removed 39,823 officials from the pay list from 2015 to August 2018, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs’ spokesperson Vu Dang Minh.

Minh said that as part of efforts to implement a Government decree, 5,778 people were removed in 2015, 11,923 in 2016, 12,660 in 2017 and 9,462 in the first seven months of 2018.

Of the total, 34,515 officials, or 86.67%, were removed as they were at retirement age, 5,234 people of them quit their jobs, 29 people left their jobs after training courses, and 40 others got jobs outside of the State sector.

Public non-business agencies led in the number of those people with 27,102, followed by public servants at the communal level with 6,141 officials, Party agencies and organisations with 1,646, State-owned enterprises with 192, and associations with 16 people.

Ministries, sectors and localities have drastically re-organised and streamlined their operations to be more simple and effective.

Minh revealed that the Ministry of Home Affairs has taken steps to reform itself by reducing six agencies in charge of training to only two and eliminating the office level in its departments. The ministry’s Office has also cut one contact point to have seven, he added.